There have been a further 524 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ireland.
The five-day moving average of new cases now stands at 443 - an increase compared to recent days.
107 patients are being treated for the virus in Irish hospitals, including 38 are in ICU.
There were an additional 19 hospitalisations in the last 24 hours.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “NPHET is closely monitoring variants of concern, and are concerned about possible higher transmissibility of the so-called Indian variant and its spread in other countries as well as early reports of its impact on vaccine effectiveness.
“The public are keeping the disease under control and the HSE is increasing the number of people vaccinated every day. But the variant may nevertheless pose a risk to the progress we have made.
"NPHET will keep a close eye on this as we move towards the end of May and consider the advice we need to provide to Government on any further easing of restrictions.”
72 cases of the B.1.617.2 variant - the so-called Indian variant - have been identified in Ireland,
